Philippa is a second alto
Hi I'm Philippa, a second alto in Viva since 2021.
It's interesting looking back over my ' singing life' for this article, just how important singing has been to me and the huge amount of enjoyment and challenge I have gained from it as a result. From the particular demands of a vocal quartet to standing in the middle of a huge massed choir at the National Indoor Arena and most things in between, I have participated in many different vocal ensembles, with Viva being the latest.
I grew up in a family where music was very important, both my Mum and Grandad were singers and I discovered a few years ago that my paternal great grand mother was a singing teacher in Leicester. I can remember my headmaster at infant school being very musical and selecting a small group of us to take part in the massed choir events at De Montfort Hall every year, then my music teacher at Grammar School identifying me as an alto aged 11 (I think then it was purely because I could sight read, as I was still singing the treble part in our church choir for several more years!) Finally the head of music at college, a wonderful musician and arranger, with whom I sang in his female voice choir which won the BBC UK Choir of the Year way back in the 1970's.
I have always felt that a choir needs a strong and inspirational conductor to bring out the best in its members and whether this has been my wonderful music teachers over the years, or other conductors I have worked with, the ones that get results ( and keep their singers) are the ones with these qualities. Simon definitely has these qualities, plus a very wide ranging knowledge of repertoire and a clear vision of what he wants Viva to achieve. As a singer himself, he has the technical knowledge to guide the choir and us as individual singers, we never stop learning!
I have always loved the challenge and 'buzz' of singing a cappella, there is something about being in the middle of a choir singing complicated harmonies in 8 or more parts that is wonderful to experience, but very difficult to explain. That is one reason I was keen to join Viva and I haven't been disappointed! We can go from singing Rachmaninov to Lauridsen, Weelkes to Poulenc and always in the original language; so can be sure of encountering some of our favourite music as well as discovering new ones!
It's interesting looking back over my ' singing life' for this article, just how important singing has been to me and the huge amount of enjoyment and challenge I have gained from it as a result. From the particular demands of a vocal quartet to standing in the middle of a huge massed choir at the National Indoor Arena and most things in between, I have participated in many different vocal ensembles, with Viva being the latest.
I grew up in a family where music was very important, both my Mum and Grandad were singers and I discovered a few years ago that my paternal great grand mother was a singing teacher in Leicester. I can remember my headmaster at infant school being very musical and selecting a small group of us to take part in the massed choir events at De Montfort Hall every year, then my music teacher at Grammar School identifying me as an alto aged 11 (I think then it was purely because I could sight read, as I was still singing the treble part in our church choir for several more years!) Finally the head of music at college, a wonderful musician and arranger, with whom I sang in his female voice choir which won the BBC UK Choir of the Year way back in the 1970's.
I have always felt that a choir needs a strong and inspirational conductor to bring out the best in its members and whether this has been my wonderful music teachers over the years, or other conductors I have worked with, the ones that get results ( and keep their singers) are the ones with these qualities. Simon definitely has these qualities, plus a very wide ranging knowledge of repertoire and a clear vision of what he wants Viva to achieve. As a singer himself, he has the technical knowledge to guide the choir and us as individual singers, we never stop learning!
I have always loved the challenge and 'buzz' of singing a cappella, there is something about being in the middle of a choir singing complicated harmonies in 8 or more parts that is wonderful to experience, but very difficult to explain. That is one reason I was keen to join Viva and I haven't been disappointed! We can go from singing Rachmaninov to Lauridsen, Weelkes to Poulenc and always in the original language; so can be sure of encountering some of our favourite music as well as discovering new ones!